I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

The third trial of the Ancestral Lands: the Ten Thousand Arts Pavilion.

This place was an ever-changing labyrinth, its walls etched with ancient runes, each one embodying the profound essence of a specific cultivation technique.

Within the span of a single day, trial participants were required to comprehend and decipher at least five rune combinations. They had to weave these scattered symbols into a fully functioning spiritual energy circuit to reveal the exit passage.

The higher one’s cultivation level, the more intricate the rune combinations became. However, complete mastery promised extraordinary rewards.

Within the labyrinth, harming fellow clansmen was strictly forbidden.

At that moment, the darkness surrounding the plaza dissipated, revealing an archaic pavilion.

Only the first level of the structure was visible; above it lay an impenetrable mist, shrouding whatever mysteries lay beyond in secrecy.

The crowd stood before the grand gate, yet no one dared to move. Their gazes were fixed upon Shen Li, the future head of the family. In this Ancestral Lands trial, he held the most exalted status.

However, Shen Xian and Ye Qingxian paid no heed to such unspoken hierarchies.

Side by side, they strode forward like a pair of immortals, heading straight for the gate.

“Third Young Master, you certainly know how to put on airs!” Shen Quan interjected sarcastically. He positioned himself directly in front of the gate, his eyes darting between Shen Xian and Ye Qingxian. “A mere ninth-grade mixed spiritual root—how dare you walk ahead of the Second Young Master?”

Another loyal follower immediately chimed in, deliberately raising his voice. “Brother Quan speaks nonsense! Is the Third Young Master not backed by Miss Ye? He is likely counting on her assistance to drag him through this third trial as well.”

“Indeed! No wonder he is so eager,” Shen Quan laughed heartily.

His entourage joined in with raucous, mocking laughter.

Yet, Shen Xian and Ye Qingxian remained utterly indifferent. They stepped through the gate without a pause, vanishing from everyone’s sight.

“What is the point of pretending when you are nothing but a failure? You had better pass this trial, or I will surely kill you afterward,” Shen Quan muttered disdainfully.

Meanwhile, Shen Li let out a faint smile. He strode confidently forward, displaying unwavering assurance regarding this trial.

He possessed a treasure bestowed upon him by his elder brother. The first place in this trial was undoubtedly his.

The instant Shen Xian stepped into the Ten Thousand Arts Pavilion, the scene before him rippled and shifted like water.

The originally simple and unadorned interior transformed into an immense, boundless labyrinth of runes.

On the walls, ancient runes shimmered in a dark golden hue, each imbued with the profound truths of cultivation techniques.

“How intriguing,” Shen Xian murmured, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He lightly touched a fire-element rune on the wall. Instantly, the Mystic Essence True Congealing Art within him began to activate spontaneously.

The mercury-like spiritual energy of his sixth-grade technique surged through his meridians, resonating perfectly with the rune via his fingertips.

“So that’s how it is,” Shen Xian realized, a flash of enlightenment lighting up his eyes.

With the aid of the Li Fire True Seal, he clearly perceived the underlying patterns flowing deep within the runes.

Those lines, opaque and baffling to others, appeared to him as unfolding paintings—each stroke a clear trace of spiritual energy’s path.

Such was the advantage granted by mastering the essence of the second trial’s rules.

Suddenly, he formed his fingers into a sword-like gesture, using them as brushes to swiftly dot the void seven times.

Seven sparks landed precisely on the critical nodes of the rune. The previously incomplete Li Fire Heart Sutra spontaneously completed itself, transforming into a thirty-foot-long crimson scripture suspended in mid-air.

Even more astonishingly, these characters began to rearrange themselves according to the flow of his Mystic Essence spiritual energy, forming an entirely new cultivation circuit.

Just as the first technique was completed, the fire-element rune suddenly distorted and morphed, coalescing into countless fiery threads that enveloped Shen Xian.

His figure gradually faded, seamlessly passing through the labyrinth’s wall to advance to the next stage.

On the other side, as Shen Li stepped into the labyrinth, his brow immediately furrows.

The runes before him seemed alive, constantly twisting and shifting. Just as he was about to grasp their patterns, the rune structure would abruptly reconfigure itself, obliterating all his previous efforts.

“Damn it…”

Fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. His fingertips repeatedly attempted to trace the rune’s patterns, yet he always fell short by a hair’s breadth.

Those seemingly simple strokes, in his eyes, resembled inscrutable celestial scripts.

What aggravated him even further was that every time he barely managed to decipher one rune, three even more complex combinations immediately appeared before him.

Time ticked by relentlessly, his robes already soaked halfway through with sweat.

Meanwhile, Shen Xian strolled leisurely through one rune wall after another.

Those structures that drove Shen Li to despair appeared to him as simple as children’s doodles.

In less than half a day, he had already completed five sets of rune tasks, yet he continued to delve deeper.

The empowerment of the Li Realm Essence from the second trial, coupled with the aid of his sixth-grade technique, allowed him to move through this labyrinth with effortless ease.

When Shen Xian deciphered the ninth set of runes, the air within the labyrinth suddenly grew thick and viscous.

The runes on the walls ceased their movement, frozen still like a suspended galaxy.

A gentle golden light rose from beneath his feet, tracing intricate geometric patterns upon the blue brick floor.

“This is…”

Shen Xian lowered his gaze, watching as the patterns beneath his feet extended automatically, intertwining into a miniature formation.

At the formation’s center, a three-foot-tall jade platform slowly ascended, bearing a crystal-clear jade slip hovering above it.

The jade slip’s surface gleamed with the exact same luster as the labyrinth’s walls, yet it was even purer, even more… vibrant.

The moment he reached out to touch the jade slip, the entire labyrinth emitted a low hum.

The vaulted stone ceiling rippled like water. Countless tiny flecks of light seeped from the cracks, coalescing in the air into dynamic scenes—replaying the very process of his recent rune deciphering.

Even more wondrously, these flecks of light began to swirl around him, gradually forming a small vortex.

At the vortex’s core, an ancient bronze key slowly took shape. Its handle bore the inscription “Ten Thousand Arts,” while its teeth were composed of flowing runes.

“The key to the Ten Thousand Arts Pavilion?”

The instant Shen Xian grasped the key, a three-dimensional map of the entire labyrinth sprang to life in his mind.

Every wall, every passage, even the locations of the other trial participants—all were clearly discernible.

According to clan records, the seventh-grade formation of the Ancestral Lands was divided into four regions, all interconnected and mutually influential. To fully master this formation, one had to gain recognition from all four regions.

Otherwise, one might enter, but would lack the power to wield the formation.

Throughout the Shen family’s history, save for the Founding Patriarch, no one had ever truly mastered this formation.

But now…

The appearance of this key signified that Shen Xian had at least mastered this particular region.

Coupled with the Li Realm Essence from the second trial, his progress in mastering the entire formation far surpassed that of any previous Shen family cultivator.

Simultaneously, the trial participants scattered throughout the labyrinth sensed something amiss.

Before Shen Li, the runes suddenly glowed with exceptional brightness, reflecting a distant, faint golden light.

He squinted, dimly perceiving a figure enveloped in flecks of light.

That silhouette—it unmistakably belonged to…

“Impossible!” His heart jolted, and the runes he had painstakingly assembled crumbled instantly.

Ye Qingxian paused her calculations, gazing thoughtfully toward the brightest point of the golden light.

Before her, ice crystals refracted a blurred image: a figure holding a bronze key, standing at the center of a formation.

Deep within the labyrinth, several cultivators engaged in rune deciphering simultaneously looked up.

The walls before them became translucent, revealing in the distance someone surrounded by golden flecks, as if cloaked in a robe woven from starlight.

“Is that… Shen Xian?” someone murmured uncertainly.

“What trouble has this failure stirred up again?” Shen Quan exclaimed in alarm.

He didn’t know what was happening, but judging by appearances, it seemed the other party had once again tapped into some extraordinary knowledge.

But why?

Why could a failure with a ninth-grade spiritual root repeatedly trigger such marvels?

Shen Quan could not fathom it.

His spirit shaken, his Dao heart even showing signs of instability, the runes he had painstakingly assembled collapsed completely.

Shen Quan quickly sealed his mind, overcome with fear. He had nearly succumbed to a deviation of the heart—what the texts called demonic possession.

The golden light persisted for roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, then gradually faded.

As the final fleck of light sank into the bronze key, Shen Xian discovered that the runes on the key’s teeth had come alive. They flowed gently, ready to recombine into new forms at any moment.

With a flicker of his intention, the runes on the key immediately rearranged themselves, forming a luminous gateway before him.

Beyond the gateway lay a shortcut straight to the labyrinth’s core.

Shen Xian tucked away the key, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

This key not only guided the way but also contained the Ten Thousand Arts Pavilion’s most profound secret—that the essence of runes is change itself.

And now, he had reached the outer realm of the labyrinth…